Just Breathe!
Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure. – Oprah Winfrey (1954-), media mogul and host of the Oprah Winfrey show, the highest rated TV show in history.
Maybe it’s the economy or maybe it’s just a year end case of inspirational dissatisfaction, but it just seems like this week that everybody’s on high alert! More than a couple of my friends and yours truly have been on edge about whatever is at the root of personal turmoil! I have had several conversations this week with people that are clearly struck with a case of the “Buffy Syndrome!” If you don’t know what that is, it stems from the actions of a little Schnauzer named Buffy who I used to have to take care of. I would let her out into our tiny Boston backyard while she did her thing…that “thing” being a wild circular tailspin that ended with her dazed and confused in the middle of the yard trying to relieve herself without leaking all over her own legs…needless to say…it was always a train wreck!
I’d sit there wishing I could just tell this spastic clown that all she had to do was slow down! Relax!It’s a lot easier than you’re making it out to be! Well she would ultimately get the last laugh as I didn’t realize the Buffy Syndrome was contagious and that I had contracted it! So I’m sure you’re thinking…if you know you have it then it must be easy to get rid of…ha ha…hardly the case! You know why? Because we are so complex that we are always seeking the next goal…we can’t slow down! As Aristotle said we are teleological instruments or goal seeking so we thrive on setting and achieving goals that are important to us…not somebody else’s dream for us rather what we really want.
Just think about the times in your life when you completely compromised who you were because someone else wanted you to grow in their image of you and you did it for them…did you feel your best! I doubt it! But rather than offer that simplistic viewpoint, I think there is something more dramatic gone awry with our inboard goal seeking mechanism and that’s overreaction to circumstances! This theme seems to be taunting me because I see it constantly throughout the week…we’re like a bunch of junkies running to the next thing that will keep us high only to be let down even further when we arrive.
You see the answer is still right there in that Boston backyard…all Buffy had to do was walk down the stairs, survey the landscape, choose a spot, make it happen and then enjoy! Instead, I’m sure being cooped up and on house arrest she couldn’t wait to escape and barreled down the stairs like an escaped felon running for the fence! Sound like you? Okay so now you’re saying “big deal…once in while we all get mixed up and lost”…to which I would say I agree, but we seem to stay stuck in that spot and continue to compromise until finally we take a real inventory!
When an Ostrich gets scared it sticks it’s head in the ground with it’s posterior waiting to be kicked! But the Ostrich is actually a tough contender that could defeat many a foe if it would just take a quick inventory of what the real danger might be and make a smart fight or flight decision!
This inventory taking really should start with you! Anybody who comes to work for our company is required to take a 6 areas of life balance exercise grading themselves A-F, listing strengths, weaknesses and several ideas to implement in each category then moving those on to a “perfect or ideal” weekly planner! How could we possibly help anybody get what they want until they know what they want…a full inventory! Now to complicate that…as a species, especially of the younger bracket, we register about a ZERO on the patience scale like Buffy so we go flying headlong into disaster…crash and burn and eventually blame everybody else because “taking personally inventory” is just to painful! Why do you think many people hate change?! Because it requires admitting where we really stand!
So the thinking tool is to be strong when you stand in the mirror, because it will definitely hurt and compel you to turn out the lights! But the truth is, it’s really not that bad! What is so devastating that you can’t remedy? You know people who have overcome abuse, alcoholism, financial devastation, physical handicaps, family collapse! That’s exactly why we cry when we see a fantastic story about someone who overcomes…because we want it to be us! We want to be the hero for a change…so what are we waiting for? The missing ingredient is that you forget to relax in that challenging moment…there is great point in a movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger says: Rule number 1, never panic in a crisis situation! You see Buffy actually did run away a couple of times in a panic, one ended in a car accident and the other time she never came back…it’s a sad ending that doesn’t have to be yours if you just remember to BREATHE!!
